Sunday, March 16, 2014

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Persecutions
and ethno-religious controversies mark return to political Dark Age?

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Posted on 16/03/2014 - 09:30

Khoo Kay Peng

OUTSPOKEN: Looking at some of the events unfolding, any right-minded Malaysian
would feel disappointed and worried about the future of this country. Since
1998, the country has been going through a rocky period and a series of
challenges.

On the political front, the sacking of
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim from the government and his conviction for sodomy that
was later overturned by the federal court had changed the political landscape
of this country.

Through Anwar, the frontline political
battle had shifted from a Malay-Chinese (Umno-DAP) racially charged struggle to
a battle for freedom and justice. Anwar became a natural leader of the cause.

Some critics had argued that the
persecution of Anwar in 1998 had led to a growing political awakening of the
electorate. Anwar wasted little time to put together an electoral pact, which
had led to a breakthrough electoral success of the pre-Pakatan Rakyat (PR)
alliance in the 2008 general election. Barisan Nasional (BN) was denied its
customary two-thirds parliamentary majority and lost its electoral dominance
over a few states.

The political awakening did not come
without a price. Since the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the local economy
has failed to recapture its pre-crisis growth miracle. Political contestation
took precedence over a number of policy, structural and institutional reforms.

With the fear of losing more support, the
BN has preferred to go back to its playbook by favouring ethnically oriented
policies and subsidy programmes. As a result, short-term relief measures were
often used to substitute socio-economic reforms to address real issues.

Subsidies and cash handouts are still being
used to ease inflationary pressure due to subsidy rationalisation and to mask
toll rate and utility tariff increases due to lopsided privatisation
agreements. In the recent years, cash handouts have broadened to include more
income groups and purposes, e.g. from purely cash handouts to subsidy for books
and smart phones.

Now many Malaysians are worried about the
sustainability of the subsidy programme. Even the opposition Pakatan Rakyat is
doing the same in the states under their leadership. Selangor, a state that is
currently suffering from water rationing, is giving free water to the state and
it wants to extend the offer to Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya too.

Penang is giving out cash to all residents
over the age of 60 years and for a host of other purposes. Its government
claims that the handouts are dividends from reducing corruption.

The outcome is going to be catastrophic.
The governments (federal and state) continue to fumble over reform promises and
to address real socio-economic challenges and issues. Both sides of the
political divide are taking populism to the highest level.

Hence, some of us were quite relieved when
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak floated his national unity idea and
proposed to hold a dialogue with the opposition. Unfortunately, his own party
leaders quickly hijacked his proposal and they were only keen to pursue it in
the name of Malay unity.

The subsequent actions were steps backward
instead of a step forward to try correcting the post-2008 political impasse. A
few events had given us a good indication of what to expect of those who were
entrusted to lead this country.

The “Allah” controversy and the growing
influence of right-wing communal groups such as Perkasa are the two most significant
indications of the political mood in the country. There is not a chance that
the country is going to abandon its post-colonial social construct and move
forward to embrace its post independence multiracial and multicultural society.
There is a growing opposition against pluralism and a greater push towards
exclusivity.

In recent days, two more events are going
to destroy totally our hope of ever coming out from the political impasse and
usher in a new dawn for Malaysia. It is going to be a bloody political brawl
all over again.

The second prosecution and conviction of
Anwar on a similar sodomy charge, regardless of whether or not the act did take
place, has reopened old political wounds. The fact that a prominent
parliamentarian, Karpal Singh, was found guilty on a frivolous sedition charge
and may lose his seat is probably the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

Both the Kajang and Balingan by-elections
are going to provide a perfect setting for the two political forces to
kick-start their war way before the next general election. Leaders and
supporters from both sides did not spare even the MH370 rescue effort from
political mudslinging.

The society is deeply divided along the
political lines. The only way to make Malaysians more sobre and less emotional
is the emergence of an independent civil society who would put politicians
firmly rooted on their purpose and responsibility.

But the hope is getting slimmer by the day.
The civil society appeared to be a victim of the ongoing political impasse.
Most of them have decided to take side and join the war rather than being rule
keepers.

The question is how far can this madness
continue before the society reaches its breaking point?

Khoo Kay Peng is a political analyst and
a management consultant. He believes that this nation can only progress with
the collective will of its people.

RENUNGAN:

“The civil society
appeared to be a victim of the ongoing political impasse. Most of them have
decided to take side and join the war rather than being rule keepers.”